The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #54258 Message #840942
Posted By: NicoleC
04-Dec-02 - 08:03 PM
Thread Name: BS: Bloody WalMart
Subject: RE: BS: Bloody WalMart
I gotta be honest folks, I have never found a single thing at Wal-Mart that I couldn't get elsewhere of a superior quality for a similar price. I pinch pennies so hard they scream -- if you want to find quality service and competitive prices, you need to think beyond mini-mauls and big Mauls.
Unless you don't think the hours you spend wandering around Wal-Mart looking for the accessory which they deliberately "merchandise" on the opposite end of the store counts. Time is my most precious commodity of all. Every hour I don't spend dodging screaming kids and have my ankles whcked by a shopping cart is an hour I can spend reading, playing or listening to music, or spending with my friends and family.
I don't really see the consolidation of all spending at giant monolithic corporate big boxes as "progress." It becomes about the lowest common denominator and lowest price, and selection or quality becomes irrelevant. I don't WANT sheets that last year in which they rub you raw. I don't want panty hose that are guarenteed to run the minute you put them on, when I can spend twice as much and have them last for years. I defy you to find more than one species of eggplant at a Super Wal-Mart at the peak of summer, when 10 or 15 varieties are ripe and waiting for half the price at a farmer's market or local produce stand.
I don't think it's progress to use your market clout to muscle your vendors into having to lower their prices so far, they close down American factories and send the jobs overseas. Of course, if your local textile mill shuts down, you can always get a job working for less money at Wal-Mart. Good thing prices are cheap there; it's the only place you can afford to shop.
Money is kinda funny. I know folks that claim they are broke -- some that really ARE -- yet they spend hundreds every month on sodas, garbage "convenience" food and disposable products. They can't buy school books for their kids, but they have a 32" TV and cable. I spent $10 on fabric remnants and old table cloths at a local thrift store to make napkins and paper towels several years ago when I was really, REALLY broke (I was working part time for minimum wage and living in LA), and haven't spent a penny on paper napkins since. I know folks that spend more than that every month on paper towels.
Sorry, I don't think Wal-Mart and the kind of products they sell are "cheap." I think they are very, very expensive in the long run. If your cheap Wal-Mart shirt costs half the price and lasts half as long... the savings is...???